A few days ago, “Hips Don’t Lie” singer, Shakira, announced that she would be performing in the opening ceremony of the FIFA’s World Cup Qatar 2022. The Colombian singer would be participating in her 4th FIFA World Cup opening ceremony, as she also performed in Germany (2006), South Africa (2010) and Brazil (2014), in the last one, she also performed for the final ceremony.
But the critics did not hold up. Users from Twitter started criticizing Shakira for supporting an event that has had so many polemics. One of them is that 300 workers lost their lives during the construction of some of the venues for the World Cup, and the company who was in charge gave no response nor help about that.
Then, the government of the country publised a note where they state that every attendant who goes to Qatar must respect the rules of the country. Let’s remember that Qatar, as an Islamic country, forces women to use clothes that cover all of their body, homosexuality is not allowed and people can’t drink any alcohol.
Different artists have spoken againts the realization of the World Cup in that country, recognizing Qatar has a lack of human rights and it’s considered a highly homophobic country. Dua Lipa shared on her Instagram a statement where she said: “I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup“.
In the past, Shakira has been always open about supporting LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. What has changed?